Do you have a Chapter 6 Revelation?

The Bible is blatantly transparent. It was written with authenticity with adamant attention given to details. The Bible pulls no punches. If you are looking for a perfect person (other than Jesus), the Bible isn’t your book.

Our world is writing a different book altogether. The highlights are highlighted. The heroes are never seen while they are in the phone booth; the picture only zooms in when they are flying complete with cape and cool outfit. This is intimidating to say the least. While my flaws and insecurities are glaring, their glory is glowing.

Have you ever taking the time to read the small print? Written in bold letters are the successes and the accomplishments. The small print tells us how they emerged before they had an entourage. Nobody wants us to read these little letters. But they bare the blunt truth to us who are just beginning our process. Don’t compare your beginning to their bold print; get encouraged by the little letters that speak of their enduring emergence.

You need a chapter 6 revelation. The writer of Hebrews inspired the generations when he wrote about the heroes of faith. The accolades and accomplishments are amazing. They worshipped, walked, worked, and were willing. Mentioned briefly, but still mentioned; was Gideon.

Gideon dominated an innumerable adversary with only 300 men. He single handedly turned the tide for his people. The past ebb and flow of domination, bondage, and fear; turned around and brought harvest, heroes, and happiness.

Chapter 7-8 of Judges expounds upon Gideon’s exploits. Modern day success stories would only print these two chapters. However, the Bible is written for all of us emerging disciples who view the exploits of great men and instead of being inspired to greatness, are intimidated by the giant gap between their end and our beginning. The world writes chapters 7-8, the bible recorded chapter 6 for all of us.

Chapter 6 tells how the warrior began at a whinepress (misspelled on purpose). His position, his past, his finances, and the call of God intimidated Gideon. This is something that I can relate to. Evil Knieval couldn’t even jump the space that existed between how God saw him, and his own opinion of himself. If you can relate to chapter 6, you can still have a chapter 7-8 in your future.

When I began preaching I beat myself up constantly. The messages I preached were embarrassing compared to my hero’s eloquence. I shouldn’t have compared their conference messages with my meager contributions. They had already hit their sweet spot, whereas I was going through the sour stage.

Don’t compare your 1st sermon to somebody else’s 1,000th. Your hero stumbled over his words, didn’t have great material, and worked through many messages which weren’t at all impressive: just like you. It’s their chapter 6 that you should look at. They preached in youth classes, storefronts, and small congregations, long before they preached to thousands.

The powerful Jordan River began as dew upon the mountains of Hermon. The mighty nation of Israel began with one son born to senior citizens. By contrasting your small start with somebody else’s Hollywood worthy finish; you hurt your faith.